Manufactured by Welson & Co. in October 1971, the unit is a cotton duck base with 3 Beta cloth pockets and is 11 x 5 inches overall.

The pockets include flaps held closed by snap fasteners; inside the flaps are dummies of the electrocardiograph signal conditioner, the impedance pneumograph signal conditioner and the electrical current converter, all made of blue-anodized metal. These instruments monitored the physiological functions of the astronaut.

The base with snap fasteners at the edges to attach to either the constant wear garment or liquid cooling garment, underneath either the intravehicular or extravehicular pressure suit.

Identification label has the part number "SEB 13100084-204" and serial number "1550."

Jim McDivitt, who was Commander of Apollo 9, became Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program in August 1969. He was the program manager for Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 missions.

This is his badge for gaining access to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston, TX for the Apollo 14 mission.

The LRL was where astronauts were quarantined and material returned from the moon was brought. After the Apollo 14 mission, it was determined that exposure to lunar dust was not hazardous to life on earth, so the astronaut quarantine procedures were discontinued, although lunar samples were still processed in the LRL for the remainder of the Apollo program.

This set of charts was the simulator copy and used in training by Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charlie Duke in the Lunar Module Simulator. Notes made by Young and Duke in pencil are visible on several pages. Used extensively at the time, but still good shape.

I find this particular checklist page fascinating because it details the last sleep period that humans enjoyed on the lunar surface. Scheduled to begin at 174:39 hours into the mission, the crew status report notations (made on the surface inside Lunar Module America) indicate that Commander Gene Cernan slept 5 hours and Lunar Module Pilot Jack Schmidt slept 6 hours.

Click the image and note the smudges of lunar dust on the checklist page.

In this photo of the Apollo 17 crew taken prior to the mission, you can see the many cue cards and checklists that will be taken aboard the spacecraft. Interesting, the lunar surface checklist (with black writing on the edge) is opened to this very page.

This oddly shaped cue card fit snugly into a particular spot on the command module control panel. The cue card provides quick instructions for problems faced by the crew.

I really like this cue card because some of the issues it deals with – such as Oxygen, CO2, Glycol, and Cyro – uses instrument readouts found on Apollo Command Module Main Control Panel 2F, and an unflown example of a block 1 version of this panel is in my collection. The CM Panel 2F controls the Cryogenics and Environmental System controls and is positioned in front of the CM pilot and LM pilot.

In the photo below, taken prior to launch, you can see the Apollo 9 crew with their checklists and cue cards as they prepare for the mission.

This 8-3/4" diameter star chart consists of a black star disc below and a semitransparent rotating disc. The rings on the outer disc signify what stars would be seen through the LM Optical Telescope at certain times during the stay on the moon.

Star charts like this were used on every lunar landing mission to orient the LM just prior to liftoff. The star chart is dated for a launch date of 11 April 1970 (Apollo 13), and was to be used in case the Lunar Module had to leave the moon's surface within 2 hours after landing (TD+2 means Touchdown + 2 Hours).

Each Lunar Module carried two similar star charts – this one for an immediate liftoff, and another for liftoff after the stars had precessed across the sky during their stay on the moon. This star chart was used in the Lunar Module Simulator during the training for Apollo 13.

My friend Larry McGlynn has written an excellent two-part overview of the star charts of Apollo. Links here: Part one and part two.

This manual lists the events that occurred during the Saturn V launch and has specific steps to be carried out by the flight crew. Sections cover boost preps, launch trajectory, launch aborts, boost, orbit insertion and orbital check-outs, TLI preps, and booster (S-IV-B) separation. An emergency section printed on pink paper covers the MODE I to IV aborts. The last sections cover Earth re-entry procedures in the event that that the flight remained in Earth orbit and did not travel to the moon.

Bob is a Trustee and the Apollo curator for the USS Hornet Museum, which is located in Alameda, CA. The Hornet recovered both 11 and Apollo 12 in 1969. The USS Hornet Museum includes a number of very unique artifacts - Apollo 14 Mobile Quarantine Facility, flown Apollo command module (Block-1 unmanned), Biological Isolation Garment, SH3D Seaking helicopter.

The public is generally aware of President Richard Nixon's activities during the Apollo 11 recovery process only during the widely-televised "welcome home" ceremony for the three astronauts. The reality is different...

Here's Bob’s account of what happened:

On July 23, the President and his party (which included Secretary of State William Rogers, National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Apollo 8 astronaut Colonel Frank Borman, White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman, White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler, and two others) flew from Honolulu to Johnston Island aboard Air Force One. There, the entourage transferred to two HMX-1 squadron helicopters and were ferried a couple hundred miles south to the USS Arlington, a Navy major communications relay ship. The presidential helicopters landed on the ship's antenna deck at 5:30pm (ship time) and shortly thereafter, President Nixon spoke to an assemblage of crewmen. He later toured the ship, chatted with many sailors, and had a light dinner before turning in for the night. Photo: President Nixon's arrival onboard the USS Arlington as he walks with CO Captain Hugh Murphree.

The group arose early the next morning and flew over to the USS Hornet by HMX-1 helicopter, arriving less than an hour before Columbia splashed down. He watched the recovery operation from the ship's island (superstructure) before descending into hangar bay 2 for the welcome home remarks. Just minutes after that televised ceremony, watched by 500 million people, President Nixon and his group departed the ship and flew back to Johnston Island. They boarded Air Force One and began the next leg of their worldwide tour. All in all, Nixon had been in the recovery area for about 18 hours with just the three most historically-eventful ones on the USS Hornet.

President Nixon was in very high spirits the entire time. During his stay on the Arlington, he spent the night in the Commanding Officer's stateroom. After the group had left the morning of the splashdown, Captain Hugh Murphree walked into his cabin and found a handwritten note from the president, scrawled across the "plan of the day". Click image to enlarge.

On the Hornet, the President was clapping people on the back, swapping jokes with the sailors, etc. It was not just about "politics" though he was keenly aware this amazing technological and scientific achievement placed the US in a position over the Soviets for world leadership. As a former naval officer, he really enjoyed being on Navy ships again. And, he was in the middle of the Pacific, away from most of the press, all the protestors, the spin-doctors of DC etc.

Thanks Bob for sharing the story and images on such an important anniversary.